Feeding device for envelope folding machines or the like



Oct. 23, 1934. R. A. NELSON I 1,978,056

FEEDING DEVICE FOP ENVELOPE FOLDING MACHINES OR THE LIKE Filed April 28, 1931 2 Shets-$heet' l 5y -udaa, W Mm Arrow 5Y5 Oct. 23, 1934. R A NELSON 1,978,056

FEEDING DEVICE FOR ENVELOPE FOLDING MACHINES OR THE LIKE Filed April 28. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Arrow/V515 Patented Oct. 23, 1934 UNITED STATES I misste- FEEDING DEVICE FOR ENvEnoPE FOLDING MACHINES on THE LIKE Robert A Nelson, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The Standard Envelope Manufacturing 1 Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio y Application April 28, 1931, Serial No. 533,483

l 1 3 Claims (Cl.27136) i Theinvention refers to feeding devices for envelope fo1ding machines or the like and has as its general aimthe provision of a new and improved feeding device which is simple in construc- 1 1 tion, efficient in operation, and which is capable of being quickly and accurately adjusted to feed blanks of different sizes or to readjust the device to eliminate such inaccuracies as may occur from operation, as by wearing of the parts.

It isan object of the invention to provide a newand improved means for feeding envelopeblanks one after another from a stack of blanks presented to the feeding mechanism from a magazine, which device embodies a means for with- 11 drawing blanks from the magazine, and means adjustable in a novel manner for preventing the withdrawal of more than a single blank.

1 More specifically stated, an object of the invention resides in the provision of a device of this character in which a rotatable member is adapted to withdraw blanks from the magazine, and a blank holding means is operative to prevent the withdrawal. of more than a single blank from the magazine, said blank-holding means having an adjustablemovement toward and away from said rotatable member in sucha direction that wear of said holding means is evenly and equally distributed throughout the entire area of the surface of said means which is in contact with the moving blank. l

In conjunction with the foregoing, another object of the invention is to providemeans for moving the blank-holding means toward and away from the rotatable member with exceeding accuracy. i

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a rotatable member for withdrawing blanks from the magazine, which member carries 40 peripherally projecting blank-engaging devices of an improved form capable of being easily adjusted from an outof-theway point within the periphery ofsaid member.

Another object is to provide, in a feeding device ,embodying a pairpf. opposed feeding rolls, a

novel means for'yieldingly urging said. rolls toward each other. 1 r

Statedmore specifically, an object of the invention-residesfin the provision of an improved feeding device having opposedlupper and lowerfeeding rolls, between which a blank passes to other operative mechanisms, and means for supporting said lower roll in resiliently urged and yielding contact withsaidupper roll. Other objects and advantages Will. become apparent in the following description and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

1 Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a machine embodying the features of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through the feeding rolls of the machine taken substantially along the line 22 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3: is a similar section showing the feeding rolls in elevation and is taken as indicated by the 6 line 3-3 of Fig. 1. 5

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation of the machine looking in the direction indicated by the line i -4 of Fig. 1. Y

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the blank holding device in rear" elevation as indicated by the line 5''5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a substantially vertical section through the blank-holding device taken on the line 6-6 of Fig.3.

' Fig? is a fragmentary vertical section on an enlarged scale through the'feeding rolls showing the operation of the device. 1 I

I Fig. 8 is an elevational view of the upper feeding roll. l

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, I have shown in the drawings and will herein describe in detail the preferred embodiment, but it is to'be understocdthat I do not thereby intend to limitthe invention to the specific form disclosed, but intend'to cover all modifications and alternative constructions fallingv within the spirit and scope of the inv'ention as expressed in the appendedclaimsf Thepresent invention is illustrated and will be described as being'applied to an envelope-folding machine in which envelope-blanks are successively fed from a'stack of blanksin a magazine to a conveyer which carries the blanks into or through the folding mechanism of the machine. While the articles which are operated upon by the present device have been, and will hereinafter be" termed envelope-blankait will be understood that this term is generically indicative of blanks other than the properly-shaped blanks from which envelopes are fashioned.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a magazine for presenting envelope-blanks to the feeding device is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 as comprising a transversely extending flat base member 20 having parallel, vertically extending, and laterally adjustable side walls 21 thereon. The discharge side of the magazine, or in other wordsthat side which is positioned adjacent .the feeding device, is supported by opposed brackets 22 rigid with the bed 23 of the machine. The other side of the magazine is supported in any suitable manner which permits the slope of the bottom thereof to be adjusted as, in this instance, by means of a rod 24 which extends between the magazine and an adjustable fastening device-25 on a stationary part. of the machine; The base 20, as may be seen in Fig. 1, preferably does not extend as far toward the feeding device as do the side walls 21, the gap thus formed being spanned in any suitable manner, as by a pair of plates 20 supported on the base 20 betweenthe-wall'sZIin centrally overlapping relation to each other'to' allow of lateral adjustment as to width;. The:

plates 2O are preferably somewhat a-rcuatei' at their free ends (see 20 Fig. 2.) to' insureta proper delivery of the blanks to the feeding device.

The feeding device is interp'osed'betweenthe magazine and a blank-conveying meansh'erein shown in the form of endless chains 26 (Fig. 1). Broadly, the feeding device'- embodies a feeding. roll having means thereon for engaging the-upper most or top-blank presented the-reto' by th'emagazinei saidroll act's inconjunction witha blankliolding or retaining means which: is positioned adjacent the periphery-of said: roll and. is: adjustable to provide a clearancebetweenlsaid means andsaid roll only sufiicient toallow a single blank topass therebetween; A-secondfeedrolli opposed to and running in contact with.theifirst feed roll, forms',-with said firstfeed-roll, a meansforengaging: the blank aften'it: has passcd' between: the

first feed roll and the blank-holding means-and? for feeding said blankt into a: position where. it may bei'engaged'bylthe conveyenchainszZG; While; the present device is illustrated as beingadapted: to extract tlr'l'eitop blankcfromi a stack ofiblanks inazmagazine, it w-i'llib'e evident to" anyone skilled .in the art that, with minor modifications; and

changes; th'e devic'efmayb'ei adapted; to feedfrom OthBI 'DaItSiOf thers-tacki.

Referring to Figs. 1. andi itheruprightibrack et's 221 on: the bed 23? are: provided; with. alined bearings 27 to receive a shaft 28 which extends;

transversely" off the bed? adjacents the" discharge endiofithe-magazinet. The shaft 28 carriesiaediskeshaped fee-ding" roll: 29 which: is: rigid with; yet. is; adjustably'securedl to; the shaftfbyrksuchzmeanse asiscrewsi 30 (Fig. 3 f extending throughl'a huh-.31 ontthedisk intoien'gagement'with the shaft. The? hub."- 311 is preferably formed by cuttingaway 'in termediate" por-tionsa ofv the disk; The? relation.- ship of th'e'diskrand; magazinei'is such thata pee-- ripheral portion of the disk extends a: short. distancei into 1 the? magazine and: isalocatedisubstaintiall'yz intermediate the magazinesidewallsr 21.

The disk. carries a: plhralityof: closely? spaced: peripherally projctihgblank engaging members: 32: (FigsNZ ZJL'and 8) tlireeipairs' "of suchimembers' beingrshownlin' the present instance: The mem:-- bers: are preferably" in the nature." of plugs formed'of rubber'or. othensuitable. friction" ma t'erial and: are mounted in boresor recesses 33? which". extend radially from i the: peripheral: sur:-

faceof: the disks Means isvprovid'ed for'adjust-- ing the plugs radially with respect to the'disk as they become" worn, which 2 adjustment-is preferably effected from an.- out=of-the-wa-y-' position within-the periphery of the:disk. To thisrendi each' of-theplugs'32is securedto a plate-34 which in turn; ,is rigid-with a;- screw-threaded" shank 35.

The: disk: 29,- intermediatethe bores.-'3-3 and the center of the dish; is-- transversely apertured as at 36; and bores 37; extendingaxially ofthe recesse's'33, connect saidrreoesseswith theraperture' theperiphery of the disk. In operation, as the disk 29 is rotated, the plugs 32 are recurrently brought: into. engagement with the top one of the blanksin' the magazine to withdraw said blank therefrom.

The means which" cooperates with the feed roll 29- to: prevent? movement of all except the top blank out of. the magazine, as the feed roll rotates, is, in this instance, disposed beneath the magazine: and adjacent to the feed roll. Thus, the side brackets 22 support a stationary rod 39 positioned immediately below the discharge side ofth'emagazine. Preferably, the'rod 39is capable' of adjustment toward and away from. the magazine; this endbeing: herein acc'omplishe'd by me'ansef elongatedslots 40'(Fig.' 4) in the-bracketsan'd bolts 41'- carried by'the shaft'29 and engaging said slots; This manner'of mounting: the shaft also permits the shaft to be' rot'atably adjusted.

The shaft" carries a 'block 42 (Figs. 2 and 3) having'a' transverse. aperture 43 through which the shaft" extends and a longitudinally extending key-way 442111 the shaft is arranged-tube engaged by a: set screw45 carried by theflblock adjustably to affix the blockion'- the shaft; The upper sur face of the'block-i' (see' Fi'gs32land- 6) has a pairof: spaced guides 46'? which extend in1a1 direction at right angles to: the axis: of: thei'transverse apertures 43 and'shaftBQJ These guides-' lfiicooperate withza pairof complementary guides- 47 formed onlth'e lowersurfaceoft a1 slide" 48, which slide; in:-thistinstance; is-. generally triangular imshape'.

The upper? surface" of: the :s1i'de 48; or thatf'sur facei whicli is opposite: the-surface on which. the guides" 47: are positioned, is provided with: a: 1021- gitudinall recess 49 'arranged1to receive an elongated-iblock-i5.0:which:constitutes:therblank hold ingr member; The arrangement and" disposition of. parts; as may beclearlw seen. in Fig: 2,1 is? such that when the slide 48 is mounted on the" block 42; one-end of: tl'lBTblDEkf 5'0- isf-juxtaposedf' with respect to the periphery ofztliei feed roll 29.. l his endl-ofi the block-.is'formed substantially on the radius of the: feed: rolli toprovide" an arcuately concaved recess which conforms to the curvature. of--rthe periphery of the feed'roll. In operation, thearcuately recessed face. on the-block 50 ispositioned' adjacent? the periphery of the-feed. roll, with. only sufficient clearance. thereb'etween' to permit arsingle-blankx to.pass.. Thus,- the block 50.:retains allexcept the upperblank in the magazine.

Obviously, in. use, the block will wean away somewhat rapidly and intime, unless adjusted, a clearance sufficient to allow more than one blank to' pass will result; Heretofore, the. adjustment of the block has been effected by pivotally mountingtlieblock'so'that the upper transverse edge ofthe' recess or; asit may be termed, the heel could be adjustably swung toward or away from tlie fe'droll. This manner ofadjusting'the clearance-has been found to be disadvantageous due to the fact" that-wear of 'the block was unequally distributed throughout'the'recess; In time, this produced a recess wliich' did not conformto the curvature of the feed roll, and in which the clearance at the tip or toeof therecess was much greaterthan the theoretically correct clearance. This disadvantage is overcome in the present development by the previously described mounting of the block. That is to say, the triangular shape of the slide 48 allows the block to be supported substantially in the line" of feed and at a proper feeding angle with respect to the feed roll, while the direction of movement of the block is at an acute angle to the blank engaged face of the block and, hence, to the line of feed as well. Thus, it will be seen that the block 50hasa direction of movement relative to the feed rollwhich adjusts the entire recess therein radially of the roll. This direction of movement of the block, as is clearly apparent in Figs.

2 and 3, extends across the feed roll at some point intermediate the axis of said roll and the periphery thereof. Asa result, once the device has been setby; adjustment of the rod 39 vertie lvf an rotatably to properly locate the directio'npof movement of the block relative to the roll, any adjustment for wear maintains the desired equidistant relationship of the opposed faces.

Means is provided for .moving the block 50 in proper direction, which means is adapted to permit of an exceedingly fine adjustment of the ,1. block relativeto the feed roll, as well as to rigidly aflix the parts in any position of adjustment. To this end, the block 42 has a transverse slot 51 of rectangular cross-section (see Figs. 2 and l 6) disposed atright angles to the axis of the aperture 43 andintermediate the guides 4'? on theblock. Theslot 51 receives an elongated headed bolt 52 which is screw-threaded into an appropriate socket in the slide 48. The head of the bolt is arranged to bear against a washer 53, interposed between said head and the adjacent side of the block 42, whereby the slide 48 may be rigidly secured to the block 42. The rear side of the slide 48 carries a plate 54 (Figs. 2 and 5) which has an end projecting beyond the slide into overlying relation with respect to the block 42. This projecting end of the plate carries a screw 55 arranged for rotative, but nonaxial movement relative to the plate. The end of the screw 55 engages a tapped bore, or its equivalent, in the block 42. 50

It will be evident that rotation of the screw 55, by means of a suitable finger piece 56, will produce a guided movement of the block 50 toward or away from the feed roll 29 when movement of the slide 48 relative to the block 42 is permitted by loosening the bolt 52. Consequently, an exceedingly accurate adjustment of the clearance between the block 50 and the periphery of the feed roll to'permit only a single blank to pass therebetween may be attained. When this adjustment has been made, the bolt 52 is tightened rigidly to maintain the adjustment until wear of the block 50 requires a readjustment of the clearance.

The second feed roll, indicated at 57 (Figs. 2

1 and 3), is supported by a shaft 58, an antifriction element 59 being preferably interposed to allow the second feed roll 5'? to rotate freely relative thereto.. Preferably, the antifriction ele ment is keyed, as at 58 (Fig. 3) to the shaft 58 for axial sliding movement. Side plates 5'7 on the feed roll 57 maintain assembly-of the parts. The shaft 58 extends transversely of the machine immediately below and paralleling the upper feed roll shaft 28 and, in the present instance, is supported for vertical movement to carry the secondfeed roll 5'7 into and out of engagement with the upper feed roll 29. One form of means for so supporting the shaft 58 is illustrated in Figs. land 4 as comprising bell-crank levers 60 rigidly secured to opposite ends of a transversely extending rock shaft 61 as by means of the pins 61 One arm 60 of each lever extends horizontally and said arms are provided with suitable bearings to receive and support the opposite ends of the shaft 58. r A spring 62 extends between eachof the other arms 60 of the levers 60 (which arms, in this instance, extend downwardly from the pivotal point of the lever), and a stationary part of the machine. Thesprings exert a force on the bellcrank lever which normally tends to swing the shaft 58 upwardly and maintain the lower feed roll 57 in contact with the upper feed roll 29. If desired, means 'may be provided for limiting the movement of the bell-crank lever under the spring tension, such as a set screw 63, adjustably carried in a stud 64 for engagement with the arms 60 of the bell-crank levers. The shafts 28, 58 and 61 are arranged in parallelism andthis' relationship is maintained in operation, by the rigid connection between the bell-crank. levers 60 and the rock shaft 61. Thus an even engagement of the feed rolls is insured.

The upper feed roll 29 is preferably driven in the following manner: A beveled gear 65 (Fig. 1) mounted on a stub shaft 66 (Figs. 1 and 4) is arranged to be driven from any suitable source of power (not shown). The stub shaft 66 carries a gear 67 which meshes with a complementary gear 68 arranged, in this embodiment, forrotation about the pivot 61 of the bell-crank lever 60 as an axis. The gear 68 meshes with'a third gear 69 (Fig. 4) which, in turn, meshes with a large gear 70 rigidly affixed to the upper feed roll shaft 28.

The gear 69 is rigid with the shaft 58 to drive said shaft. Since the swinging movement of the shaft 58 is about the axis of the gear 68 as a center,the gears 68 and69 are constantly in mesh. However, this swinging movement is of such limited extent that the gears 69 and '70, while movable toward and away from each other, never become disengaged. As has been stated, the shaft 58 is preferably driven. Consequently, and although the feed roll 57 may rotate relatively to the shaft (because of the antifriction element 59), the lower feed roll is driven yet may rotate independently and at variable speeds according to the machine operation.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a novel device of this character has been provided which may be adjusted simply and quickly for feed rolls. The upper feed. roll is rigidly secured to the shaft 28 at approximately the center of the magazine. The blank-holding means is adjusted along the rod 39 to correspond to the position of the upper feed roll and the correct angular disposition of the means is attained by adjustment of the rod 39. Preferably, movement of the blank-holding means axially of the rod 39 is utilized to properly position the lower feed roll in opposition to the upper feed roll. Thus, the block 42 on the rod 39 has side plates '71 (Figs. 2, 3 and 6) which extend therefrom to straddle the lower feed roll 57 and hold the parts in a definite alined relationship.

'10 may be made without difficulty. The plugs 32 are? conveniently adjustable from within the periphery of the-upper feed roll. The block 50, whenthescrew-55 is turned, is moved accurately in a proper direction toward the upper feed roll tovspacei'the entire surface of the recess in the.

block-.equidistantly from .the roll.

Theoperation in general is so obvious as to require no'additional explanation. It should be noted, however, that the. mounting of the lower feed roll; for movement toward and away from the upper feed roll allows the position of the upper'roll to be definitely and rigidly maintained yet insures'that the device willoperate efiicientlyupon; blanks of: difierent thicknesses. Moreover, the possibilityof blanks becoming wedged or jammed between the feed rolls is eliminated.

I1 claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the'character described, the.

combinationaof:amagazine, a firstfeed roll adapted to? enga e: and. withdraw blanks successively from said magazine, means adjustable trans-- versely ofsaid magazinev to cooperate with said first-feed rollto prevent withdrawal of. more than one-blank at a-- time,.a secondieed roll adapted town in contact withsaid-first feed roll, a supporting-shaft onawhich said second roll is mountedlfonaxially'sliding. movement, and means connez'epse nectingsaidasecond feed roll and said transversely, adjustable. means for transverse move-. ment togethen 2. A-feed.roll'for. adevice ofithe character describedicomprising, in. combination, a disk-like member having a series of recesses extending inwardly of said member from, the periphery thereof, a plug QfbIank-engaging. material in each recess, and'meansfor independently adjusting the positions ofv said plugs, said meansbeing operable from. within the periphery of said member, said member, being cut away to provide access to said. means.

3. Af'eeding device for envelope-blanks or. the like comprising, in combination, ablank-presenting. magazine, a, feed roll arranged to. engage and withdraw blanks therefrom, and means arrangedto engage said blanks andihaving a spaced relation to said roll to prevent more than a.single blank from being withdrawn at any one time, said means. comprising astationary blockdisposedbelow andat one side of said feed'roll'and having upwardly facing guide means thereon dis posed in a plane which slopes upwardly toward the adjacent. part of. said roll, a triangularly shaped'block mounted onsaid guide means with a surface thereof extending generally in the directionof theline of jfeed,.a blank engaging member. mounted on said'surface and'having a concave faceopposing said roll, and means for'adjusting said block along said. guide means; said parts having arelationship wherein movement of said block adjusts said concave face toward or away fronisaid roll while maintainingthe opposing faces concentric.

' ROBERTA. NELSON. 

